Stephen Colbert has a message for Kanye West: the rapper, who now goes by Ye, is not welcome on The Late Show, in the Ed Sullivan Theater, and even Times Square. On Thursday, Colbert announced during his opening monologue for The Late Show that West will never be invited to the show. The announcement, even if intended to be a moment of levity, is just the latest in a growing list of people and companies announcing that they will no longer work with West following his antisemitic comments.
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“After much thought and soul-searching, I, Stephen Colbert, am banning Kanye West from the Ed Sullivan Theater,” Colbert said. “Have to. I have to. Line in the sand.”
Colbert also joked that the reason he had to make the declaration when he did was because of West showing up uninvited and unannounced at Skechers, a visit that came just one day after Adidas ended its partnership with the rapper. Skechers reportedly had West escorted off their property.
“I have no excuses for why I didn’t do this before, except perhaps that he has never been on the show, we have never asked him to be on the show, and I’m not sure he’s aware that I have a show. But I had to do it now because I was afraid he would just show up at any moment because that’s what he did yesterday.”
“In five years, the idea of an unannounced visit from Kanye has gone from amazing to, ‘Sir, you need to leave this Skechers,’” Colbert joked. “…It gets worse – unlike with Adidas, Kanye never had a deal with Skechers. Apparently, Kanye is so desperate, he’s just driving around and searching Google Maps for ‘shoes near me.’”
West has come under fire in recent weeks for antisemitic comments that have, in turn, led numerous companies to sever ties with the rapper. TJX Companies — the parent company of TJ Maxx — Creative Arts Agency, Gap, Balenciaga, Adidas, and others have all announced that they will no longer work with nor carry West’s products.
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